Author Bio

Tara L. Alisbah was born in Ankara, Turkey in the year 1970. By the age of three she had lived in as many countries (Turkey, America, India) and become utterly confused by language and communication. As an adult she felt the need to combine her two halves (or three thirds or….) and took a year off from college to live in Turkey with relatives and begin her study of Turkish in earnest. Eventually, after much back and forth and work that didn't always fit a distinct trajectory, Tara found her niche as a NOTICER of SUBTLE communication. This includes hand gestures, body language, emotions, and other sensitivities. This habit of not always taking the straight and obvious path is probably what allowed her to see the subtle layer of expressiveness Turks display in spite of their usual verbal indirectness. She completed Book One of her Turkish Hand Gestures project in 2011 and is busy completing Book Two: The Emotional Turk, and Book Three: A Pinch of Turkey: Measures and Sundry. Right now, she is committed to the plan of creating a Turkish comic-type version of her book, with all of the 150 gestures she has compiled to become a number one best seller in Turkey! She is going to do it in a large community, with the help of many creative Turks across the world! How does it get better than that?

EXPERIENCE:Tara is the child of a Turkish and American union, born in Ankara and raised largely in the Washington, DC area. She has over +8 years experience living and working in Turkey in multiple sectors and continues that work in the D.C. area including:

Shamanic renewal retreats for women at sacred site travel in Turkey

US Coordinator for Alsan Film

Interpreter: Current Turkish interpreter for Arlington County school system and Ad Astra medical interpreting services, 2011.

Author: Turkish Hands: Gesturing Your Way Home; The Essential Hand Guide for Tourists and students of Turkish language and culture, 2011.

Entrepreneur: Founder and director of Eden’s Garden International Preschool, 2005-2008. The school continues its activities under new ownership: http://www.edensgardenpreschool.com/ .

Resident Director: For the State Department’s Critical Language Program in Bursa responsible for 20 American university students, Turkey 2010.

Consultant: Grant proposal writing for World Bank in Ankara, Turkey, bringing together NGO community, municipal and central government offices around issues relating to “youth at risk” population, 2004.

MA recipient: International Relations and International Economics, regional specialization in Middle East Studies, Johns Hopkins-SAIS, 2001. Recipient: National Security Education Program fellowship for study in Turkey.